Night World : Witchlight Chapter 9

Keller reacted instantly and instinctively. She changed. She did it on the leap this time. Rushing the process along, pushing it from behind. She wanted to be entirely a panther by the time she landed on the girl's back. But some things can't be rushed. She felt herself begin to liquefy and flow†¦ formlessness†¦ pleasure†¦ the utter freedom of not being bound to any single physical shape. Then reformation, a stretching of all her cells as they reached to become something different, to unfurl like butterfly wings into a new kind of body. Her jumpsuit misted into the fur that ran along her body, up and down from the stomach in front, straight down from the nape of her neck in back. Her ears surged and then firmed up, thin-skinned, rounded, and twitching already. From the base of her spine, her tail sprang free, its slightly clubbed end whipping eagerly. That was how she landed. She knocked the girl cleanly over, and they both went rolling on the floor. When they stopped, Keller was crouching on the girl's stomach. She didn't want to kill the girl. She needed to find some things out first. What kind of Night Person the girl was, and who'd sent her. The only problem was that now, as she knelt with her hands gripping the girl's arms, staring into dark blue eyes under soft brown- bangs, she couldn't sense anything of the Night World in the girl's life energy. Shapeshifters were the uncontested best at that. They could tell a human from a Night Person nine times out of ten. And this girl wasn't even in the â€Å"maybe† range. She was giving off purely human signals. Not to mention screaming. Her mouth was wide open, and so were her eyes, and so were her pupils. Her skin had gone blue-white like someone about to faint. She looked utterly bewildered and horrified, and she wasn't making a move to fight back. Keller's heart sank. But if the girl was human and harmless, why hadn't she listened when Keller had shouted at her? â€Å"Boss, we have to shut her up.† It was Winnie, yelling above the girl's throaty screams. As usual, Nissa didn't say a word, but she was the one who shut the music room door. By then, Keller had recovered enough to put a hand over the girl's mouth. The screaming stopped. Then she looked at the others. They were staring at her. Wide-eyed. Keller felt like a kitten with its paw in the canary cage. Here she was, sitting on this human girl's midriff, in her half-and-half form. Her ears and tail were a panther's, and she was clothed from her snug boots to her shoulders in fur. It fit her like a black velvet jumpsuit, a sleeveless one that left her arms and neck bare. The hair on her head was still a human's and swirled around her to touch the floor on every side. Her face was human, too, except for the pupils of her eyes, which were narrow ovals, reacting to every change of light and shadow. And her teeth. Her canines had become delicately pointed, giving her just the slightest hint of fangs. She blinked at Galen, not sure what she saw in his expression. He was definitely staring at her, and there was some strong emotion pulling his face taut and making that white line around his mouth. Horror? Disgust? He was a shapeshifter himself-or he would be if he could ever make up his mind. He'd seen her in panther form. Why should he be shocked at this? The answer flashed back at Keller from some deep part of her brain. Only because I'm a monster this way. Panthers are part of nature and can't be blamed for what they do. I'm a savage thing that doesn't manage to be either an animal or a person. And I'm dangerous in this form. Neither half of me is really in control. Someone who's never changed could never understand that. Galen took a step toward her. His jaw was tense, but his gold-green eyes were fixed on hers, and his hand was slightly lifted. Keller wondered if it was the gesture of a hostage negotiator. He opened his mouth to say something. And Iliana came to life, jumping up and running past him and shrieking at Keller all at once. â€Å"What are you doing? That's Jaime! What are you doing to her?† â€Å"You know her?† â€Å"That's Jaime Ashton-Hughes! She's Brett's sister! And she's one of my best friends! And you attacked her! Are you all right?† It was all shrieked at approximately the same decibel level, but on the last sentence, Iliana looked down at Jaime. Keller moved her palm from Jaime's mouth. As it turned out, though, that didn't seem to be necessary. Jaime raised her free hand and began to make swift, fluid gestures at Iliana with it. Keller stared, and then her insides plummeted. She let go of the girl's other arm, and the gestures immediately became two-handed. Oh. Oh†¦ darn. Keller could feel her ears flatten backward. She looked unhappily at Iliana. â€Å"Sign language?† â€Å"She's got a hearing impairment!† Iliana glared at Keller, all the while making gestures back at Jaime. Her motions were awkward and stilted compared to Jaime's, but she clearly had some idea what she was doing. â€Å"I didn't realize.† â€Å"What difference does it make how well she can hear?† Diana yelled. â€Å"She's my friend! She's president of the senior class! She's chair for the Christmas Benefit bazaar! What did she do to you, ask you to buy a teddy bear?† Keller sighed. Her tail was tucked up close to her body, almost between her legs, and her ears were flatter than ever. She climbed off Jaime, who immediately scooted backward and away from her, still talking rapidly with her hands to Diana. â€Å"The difference,† Keller said, â€Å"is that she didn't stop when I told her to. I yelled at her, but†¦ I didn't realize. Look, just tell her I'm sorry, will you?† ‘You tell her! Don't talk about her as if she isn't here. Jaime can lip-read just fine if you bother to face her.† Diana turned to Jaime again. â€Å"I'm sorry. Please don't be mad. This is terrible-and I don't know how to explain. Can you breathe now?† Jaime nodded slowly. Her dark blue eyes slid to Keller, then back to Diana. She spoke in a hushed voice. Although it was flat in tone and some of the sounds were indistinct, it was actually rather pleasant. And the words were perfectly understandable. â€Å"What†¦ is it?† she asked Diana. Meaning Keller. But then, before Diana could answer, Jaime caught herself. She bit her lip, looked at the floor for a moment, then braced herself and looked at Keller again. She was frightened, her body was shrinking, but this time her eyes met Keller's directly. â€Å"What†¦ are you?† Keller opened her mouth and shut it again. A hand closed on her shoulder. It was warm, and it exerted brief pressure for an instant. Then it pulled away, maybe as if revolted because it was resting on fur. â€Å"She's a person,† Galen said, kneeling down beside Jaime. â€Å"She may look a little different right now, but she's as much of a person as you are. And you have to believe that she didn't mean to hurt you. She made a mistake. She thought you were an enemy, and she reacted.† â€Å"An enemy?† There was something about Galen. Jaime had relaxed almost as soon as he got down on her level. Now she was talking to him freely, her hands flying gracefully as she spoke aloud, emphasizing her words. Her face was pretty when it wasn't blue with suffocation, Keller noticed. â€Å"What are you talking about? What kind of enemy? Who are you people? I haven't seen you around school before.† â€Å"She thought-well, she thought you were going to hurt Diana. There are some people who are trying to do that.† Jaime's face changed. â€Å"Hurt Diana? Who? They'd better not even try!† Winnie had been twitching throughout this. Now she muttered, â€Å"Boss†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"It doesn't matter,† Keller said quietly. â€Å"Nissa's going to have to blank her memory anyway.† It was too bad, in a way, because this girl's reaction to the Night World was one of the most sensible Keller had ever seen. But it couldn't be helped. Keller didn't look at Diana as she spoke; she knew there was going to be an argument. But before it started, she had one final thing to say. â€Å"Jaime?† She moved and got instant attention. â€Å"I'm sorry. Really. I'm sorry I frightened you. And I'm really sorry if I hurt you.† She stood up, not waiting to see if she was forgiven. What difference did it make? What was done was already done, and what was about to happen was inevitable. She didn't expect to be forgiven, and she didn't care. That was what she told herself, anyway. Diana did argue. Keller tried not to let Jaime see much of it, because that would only make her more scared and miserable, and the end really was inescapable. Leaving her memory intact would be dangerous not only for Iliana but for Jaime herself. â€Å"It's death for a human to find out about the Night World,† Keller said flatly. â€Å"And it's worse than death if the dragon and his friends think she's got any information about the Wild Power. You don't want to know what they'll do to try and get it out of her, Iliana. I promise you don't.† And, finally, Iliana gave in, as Keller had known she would have to from the beginning. Nissa moved up behind Jaime like a whisper and a shadow and touched her on the side of her neck. Although witches were the experts at brainwashing, at inserting new ideas and convictions, vampires were the best at wiping the slate clean. They didn't use spells. It was something they were born with, the power to put their victim into a trance and smooth away hours or even days of memoiy. Jaime looked into Nissa's silvery-brown eyes for maybe seventy seconds, and then her own blue eyes shut, and her body went limp. Galen caught her as she feU. â€Å"She'll wake up in a few minutes. It's probably best if we leave her here and get out,† Nissa said. â€Å"Lunch is over, anyway,† Keller said. In the quiet minutes while Jaime was being hypnotized, Keller had finally managed to convince her body that there was no danger. It was only then that she could relax enough to change back. Her ears collapsed, her tail retracted. Her fur misted into jumpsuit and skin. She blinked twice, noticing the difference in brightness as her pupils changed, and the tips of her fangs melted into ordinary teeth. She stood up, shifting her shoulders to get used to the human body again. They were all subdued as they escorted Iliana back to classes. The quietest of all was Keller. She had overreacted, let her animal senses throw her into a panic. It wasn't the first time in her life. The first time in her life had been when she was about three†¦ but better not to think about that. Anyway, it wasn't even the first time in her career as an agent for Circle Daybreak. An agent had to be ready for anything at any moment. Had to have radar running, in front, in back, and on all sides, all the time, and be prepared to react instinctively at the slightest stimulus. If that sometimes caused mistakes-well, it also saved lives. And she wasn't sorry. If she had to do it over, she'd do it again. Better one nice brown-haired girl scared than Iliana hurt. Better, Keller thought with bleak defiance, one nice brown-haired girl killed than Iliana in the hands of the enemy. Iliana represented the future of the entire daylight world. But†¦ Maybe she was getting too old for this kind of job. Or maybe too jumpy. Iliana sat moodily during afternoon classes, like a fairy who'd lost her flower. Keller noticed Winnie and Nissa being extra vigilant-just in case their boss got preoccupied. She flashed them a sarcastic look. â€Å"You waiting for me to slack off?† She poked Nissa in the ribs. â€Å"Don't hold your breath.† They smiled, knowing they'd been thanked. And Galen†¦ Keller didn't want to think about Galen. He sat quietly but intently through each class, and she could tell his senses were expanded. He didn't try to speak to her, didn't even look at her. But Keller noticed that every so often he rubbed his palm against his jeans. And she remembered the way his hand had pulled back from her shoulder. As if he'd touched something hot. Or something repulsive†¦ Keller gritted her teeth and stared at various blackboards with dry and burning eyes. When the last bell finally rang, she made the whole group wait in the chemistry classroom while the school emptied out. Iliana watched and silently steamed as her friends all left without her. Even the teacher packed up and disappeared. â€Å"Can we go now?† â€Å"No.† Keller stood at the second-story window, looking down. All right, so I'm a tyrant, she thought. A nasty, unsympathetic, whip-wielding dictator who jumps on innocent girls and won't let people out of school. I like being that way. Iliana wouldn't argue. She stood rigidly a few feet away, looking out the window herself but refusing to acknowledge Keller's presence. Finally, Keller said, â€Å"All right. Nissa, get the car.† Galen said, â€Å"I'll do it.† The answer to that, of course, was, â€Å"No way.† But Galen was going on. â€Å"It's something useful I can do. I've been standing around all day, wishing I was trained at something. At least driving I can handle. And if anybody comes after me, I can run fast.† The answer to that was still no. But Keller couldn't bring herself to say it, because she couldn't bring herself to face him for a long debate. She was afraid of what she might see in the depths of those gold-green eyes. It would be funny if she'd managed to turn the prince of the shapeshifters off from shapeshifting altogether. Wouldn't it? â€Å"Go on,† she said to Galen, still looking down onto the circular driveway in front of the school. After he had gone, she said to Nissa, â€Å"Follow him.† That was how everyone happened to be where they were in the next few minutes. Keller and Iliana were at the window, staring out at a cool gray sky. Winnie was at the door to the chemistry room, watching the hallway. Galen was a floor beneath them somewhere inside the school, and Nissa was a discreet distance behind him. And standing beside the circular driveway, obviously waiting for a ride, was a girl with familiar brown hair. She was reading a book that didn't look like a textbook. Jaime. It all happened very fast, but there were still distinct stages of warning. Keller was aware of them all. The first thing she noticed was a blue-green car that cruised down the street in front of the high school. It was going slowly, and she narrowed her eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of the driver. She couldn't The car passed on. I should make her get away from the window, Keller thought. This wasn't as obvious a conclusion as it seemed. The Night People weren't in the habit of using sharpshooters to pick off their targets. But it was still probably a good idea. Keller was tiredly opening her mouth to say it when something caught her attention. The blue-green car was back. It was at the exit of the circular driveway, stopped but facing the wrong way, as if it were about to enter. As Keller watched, it revved its engine. Keller felt her hairs prickle. But it didn't make any sense. Why on earth would Night People want to park there and draw attention to themselves? It had to be some human kids acting up. Hiana was frowning. She had stopped tracing patterns in the dust on the windowsill. â€Å"Who's that? I don't know that car.† Alarms. But still†¦ The car roared again and started moving. Coming the wrong way along the driveway. And Jaime, right below them, didn't look up. Diana realized at the same time Keller did. â€Å"Jaime!† She screamed it and pounded the window with one small fist. It didn't do the slightest good, of course. Beside her, Keller stood frozen and furious. The car was picking up speed, heading straight for Jaime. There was nothing to do. Nothing. Keller could never get down there fast enough. It was all going to be over in a second. But it was horrible. That giant metal thing, tons of steel, was going to hit about a hundred and ten pounds of human flesh. â€Å"Jaime!† It was a scream torn from Diana. Below, Jaime finally looked up. But it was too late.

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Comparative Study of Critical Resource Diagramming Versus PERT and CPM - Assignment Example PERT is a statistical implement used in project management, it is designed to analyze and exemplify the task evaluation completing a given project (Delgado et al., 2004). It is normally used in conjunction with CPM which is known as critical path method in project scheduling and management technique. CPM is a tool used to evaluate and determine duration based on the proof of identity of â€Å"critical work† through an activity network (Delgado et al., 2004).Ultimately CPM and PERT can be merged into one to form a project scheduling technique known as CPM/PERT. The combination of both CPM and PERT makes it visually easier to view precedence relationships and gives an opportunity for ideal large projects with several activities (Delgado et al., 2004). CPM/PERT contain two major key elements: activities and events. An activity embodies an action and consumption of resources such as time, money and energy needed to complete a quota for a given plan. The activity is typically epitomized by an arrow; this is due to the fact that it encompasses resources (Delgado et al., 2004). An event, normally taken to mean node will basically occur at the beginning and the end of an activity. The events have no resources and as a result are represented by a circle (Delgado et al., 2004). When working on a complicated project, it is normally very hard for the business owner to envisage the schedule and risks. Applying the PERT/CPM can help play a major role in breaking the large efforts down into smaller tasks and show the relationships between different tasks. This can help in determining the expected outcome besides anticipating and alleviating scheduling bottlenecks (Delgado et al., 2004). Using the just-in-time (JIT) philosophy as a standard project scheduling technique can help solve the implications of Ajax project management that includes the stratagem, fabrication and introduction of a firsthand microwave oven. The just-in-time is used to eliminate wastage by cutting unnecessary inventory and doing away with the delays in operations.  

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The investigation of RTF virus - Essay Example The individuals affected by this virus hesitate to come forward and test themselves. Due to this, the organizations like WHO are unable to help the people affected by this virus. People affected by RTF are unwilling to co-operate with these organizations and this in turn leads to a situation where the affected lose their lives. This is due to the undiagnosed situation and the negligence of the patients. WHO is one among the voluntary health organizations that assist and guide people to overcome and prevent themselves from diseases. This organization also helps the people affected by deadly virus and diseases and helps them in recovering. These organizations get the help and assistance from philanthropists and they provide treatment for people who suffer from poverty. In spite of the initiatives from WHO, people are reluctant to approach them and seek medical help. Lack of awareness is the major problem and it leads to various severe consequences. WHO creates awareness among the people and this makes them aware of the diseases. These organizations are ready to spend money to cure these diseases and to prevent people from getting affected by these diseases. Once people get affected by this virus, they can approach the health centers that provide treatment for this disease. WHO cannot find the people affected by this deadly virus. ... To conduct such study and survey, the support and co-operation of the public is the important requirement. If the public does not support and them, it will be difficult for these voluntary organizations to help the affected. As people hesitate to reveal that they are affected by RTF, the treatment becomes a problem. The hesitation is due to the cultural factors. The sexual behaviors and acts depend on the culture. People follow their culture and they are reluctant to change according to the prevailing situation. This leads to various problems and the affected people fall as victims to death. The culture is an important factor that decides the people's behavior in the society. The culture and its activities does not allow them to Come forward if they are affected by RTF. The patient's do not approach any medical centers to get them tested. Even a primary test can reveal their illness and will prove whether they are affected by RTF. Since it is a sexually transmitted disease, people have more hesitation and they do not want others to know about their illness. This is due to the cultural influence and it worsens the current situation. The medical centers guide the infected people and this helps them to recover soon. WHO is the best organization that serves the public and it is one among the voluntary organization that helps the people affected by deadly diseases. Theoretical Issues As a culture expert I must decide on the investigations and early tests that would reveal the number of people affected by RTF. Preliminary tests should be conducted to find out the number of people affected by this virus. Once the numbers of people are known, it is easy to detect the people who are

Napoleon was successful because his enemies were incompetent Essay Example for Free

Napoleon was successful because his enemies were incompetent Essay Napoleon was successful because his enemies were incompetent and divided. How far do you agree? Napoleon was one of the most successful military leaders Europe has ever seen; his leadership of the French army saw him control much of continental Europe. Napoleons enemies did give him a great advantage during his success through their incompetence and divisions. However the weaknesses of Napoleons opposition was not the only reason why he was so successful. One must also look at other reasons to why Napoleon had so much success. Napoleons enemies had old-fashioned, slow and immobile tactics when fighting Napoleon, this made it easier for Napoleon to defeat them, as his army was quick and mobile. This inability to produced new tactics was exposed at the Battle of Ulm in 1805. The Prussians were fighting Napoleon, they were slow and immobile, and as a result lost 45,000 men, Napoleon was able to easily expose their immobility. Napoleons enemies showed were divided and not united together as they failed to join together and forge a successful alliance against Napoleon. The Second Coalition of 1799 is an example of their incompetence to join together against Napoleon. It was between Britain, Russia, Austria and the Ottoman Empire. However it was made up of a series of separate alliances, which meant there was no single aim. Soon there was political fallout between Russia and Britain over Malta, which meant the coalition was effectively disbanded. The fallout allowed Napoleon to interfere and get Russia on side, and then bully Austria into the Peace of Luneville. Although it can be seen that Napoleon was successful in divide and rule as he was able to split the allies and forge a separate alliance, this failed coalition also shows the incompetence of Napoleons enemies to united against him. Napoleons enemies also saw him as infallible and this meant they would enter a battle against him with fear and often gave him too much respect. Evidently Napoleons enemies incompetence and divisions did play a part in his success, they had poor tactics and could not unite against him. However in order to analyse how far his enemies incompetence and divisions led to Napoleons success, one must also look at other factors which led to Napoleons success. Napoleons himself and his leadership of the French army is a key reason for his success. When Napoleon took command of the French army, he reorganised it and took lead of the whole army himself. The army was divided into corps of 25,000 to 30,000 soldiers, which increased the armies mobility. Napoleon controlled the whole army and decided every move on the battlefield. This along with the mobility of the army, allowed him to make fast decisions and his army were able to respond quickly. To increase speed and mobility Napoleon also introduced living off the land which meant his soldiers carried a limited supply of food and clothes and were encouraged to loot as they marched. This meant his men could travel from 12 to 15 miles a day. In another effort to increase mobility Napoleon also used horse artillery. Napoleon had great qualities as a military general; he would formulate a general plan of action before any battle and calculate all the possibilities. He did this at Austerlitz in 1805 to great effect. He engaged the Russians, but kept a large reserve, which allowed him to roll to victory. Napoleon was also a quick thinker and was able to improvise by using his mobile army to take advantage of enemy mistakes. This can be seen at the Battle of Ulm in 1805, where he improvised by making a quick decision to send marshal Murat in pursuit of the Austrians, which reduced their numbers from 70,000 to 27,000. Napoleon possessed great charisma. Wellington said of him his presence in the battlefield is worth an extra 40,000 men. He would fight alongside his men, which inspired his men and gained him respect. He did this at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, when times got hard for his soldiers. He also used emotional, theatrical language in his Daily Bulletins, to inspire and arouse the passions of his troops. This ability to inspire his troops meant he got the best out of his men at all times, increasing his chances of victory. Napoleon also understood the importance of paying his men in coin money as appose to paper money, as it did not depreciate in value. He also allowed them to loot as they conquered new lands. This boosted morale as his soldiers were payed well and it also meant they respected him. Napoleon would also play to his strengths, and as he had a weak navy, he never fought naval battles. Another skill of Napoleon was his ability to incorporate other peoples tactics into his own army with great effect. For instance he took military thinker Guiberts tactic of mixed order (a combination of lines and columns of men), and incorporated it into the army. It had a great impact as it increased mobility and meant they were less vulnerable and predictable. Although it was not his idea, Napoleon did incorporate into his army to great effect. Evidently Napoleons military skills and leadership of the French army was another reason for him been so successful. He possessed great skills such controlling the whole army, planning ahead and improving to take advantage of enemy mistakes. He was also brilliant at getting the best out of his troops through his charisma and incorporating other peoples tactics to great effect. Another reason that must be analysed in order to establish why Napoleon was so successful is the strength of the French army he inherited when he came to power. Due to conscription introduced in 1793 before Napoleon was in power, the French army was by far the largest in Europe. By 1805 it consisted of around 600,000 men. This was an obvious a great advantage to Napoleon, it enabled him to change the nature of warfare to levee on masse. The size of the army allowed him to surround enemies as he did at the twin battle of Jena-Auerstadt where by surrounding the Prussians, made them face on the wrong way when battle began, as a result they lost 45,000 men. Napoleon was also able to take huge losses himself, as on average he took on 73,000 new conscripts. Napoleon also inherited the experienced soldiers that had fought in the Grande Armee during the French revolution; these men were of great value. So evidently Napoleon was assisted in his success, as he inherited a huge army, which gave him the edge against the smaller, weaker armies of his enemies. So although Napoleon was assisted by the incompetent and divided nature of his enemies, other factors also had a great contribution in his success, particularly his military skills and leadership. Without possessing great skills he would have not been as successful. It was his skills, which allowed him to take advantage of the weakness of his enemies, and the army he inherited and as a result have so much military success.